FAA provides help to first responders
Technologies such as airbags and ballistic recovery parachutes can help keep pilots and passengers safe in the event of an accident. But those same technologies could pose a hazard to first responders if they haven’t deployed in the crash.
The FAA small airplane directorate addresses these and other considerations in a Web-based training presentation for first responders to a small aircraft or helicopter accident scene. The presentation provides airport operators, fire and rescue personnel, and other potential first responders with training on how to approach an aircraft accident scene safely, recognize the hazards, and preserve the wreckage.
The course is broken into five modules and provides information of value to anyone who may be likely to come across an accident scene, such as law enforcement, search-and-rescue organizations, accident investigators, or recovery workers.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) is collecting additional first-responder safety information from the individual manufacturers and has begun posting links to the manufacturer information online.
Chris Lawler, AOPA's Flying Club manager, explains what makes a 501(c)(3) a tax-exempt charitable organization; what makes a 501(c)(7) a social organization; and what advantages a flying club may receive by organizing as a tax-exempt organization.
A single thunderstorm can contain almost every weather-related hazard to pilots--high winds, limited visibility, hail, microbursts, and icing just to name a few. The Air Safety Institute just completed Storm Week, its weeklong education campaign to raise awareness of thunderstorms. Now is the perfect time to hold a club safety seminar and utilize the many ASI tools to help understand how ATC and weather briefers can steer you clear of the storms or help pilots make the decision to stay on the ground.
What better way to celebrate Memorial Day and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to provide the freedoms we enjoy in the United States, including the freedom to fly, than a flight down the Hudson River past the new Freedom Tower being built at Ground Zero? Learn how the East Hill Flying Club used this popular sight seeing flight into an SFRA as a teaching tool to build the skills of its newer pilots.